


Dying Light

by ILLEGAILE



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Adventure, F/M, I'm No Good At Tagging, Reader!Fic, Romance, pretty obvious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-17 04:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4652655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ILLEGAILE/pseuds/ILLEGAILE
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before her, Bucky was just a soldier and Pietro was just a Mutant. </p>
<p>After her, they were never the same again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Her

**Author's Note:**

> Don't go gentle into that good night.  
> Rage on against the dying light.

White, his sight was flooded with endless white.

He could feel the pull of death close to his numb fingers, like if he could just reach it-

"Hey"

He cursed, trying to pull himself away from the pain already blooming in his limbs. Why can't he ever reach the light? It was right ther-

"Bucky?"

James Buchanan Barnes gasped, arms raised and ready to strike when he realized where he was. Not Hydra. The tower. Avengers Tower, he'd been an Avenger for almost a year.

"You ok, Buck?" He looked up into worried blue eyes and laughed. He's always worried. "I'm fine, Steve. Just zoned out."

Steve's shoulders slumped, lax in a way that he rarely was anymore since they started eliminating the threat that was Hydra. They were crawling everywhere, the government, SHIELD, M16, IMF, Interpol. You can toss a rock in any city in the world and hit someone with a connection to Hydra. That was a year ago. The threat was halfway extinguished by now, thank God. And since Bucky joined the team, Steve's never been more relieved. But these episodes, Bucky's "zoning out"-

Steve's expression hardened, clearly having something he wanted to say. The speakers gave off a loud alarm, it would have to wait until later, much later if Bucky had any say in the matter.

"We have trouble" a silver-blue blur rushed into the room, coming to a stop in front of the lounging super soldiers. Bucky's eye twitched at the sudden appearance of the Sokovian."Big trouble"

"Status?" Steve stood up, preparing to don his gear and save the world yet again. Bucky rolled his eyes a bit. Steve, now he was a real hero.

Pietro shook his head, uneasy. "Mutants"

Bucky blinked away the shock. Mutants in New York? They don't have any quarrel with Charles Xavier, they have an unsteady alliance at best from their little spiel against Hydra who was experimenting on Mutants at the time. Charles had helped Pietro and Wanda know a little more about their past, even explaining to them the fact that they as well were Mutants.

But Mutants in New York? Unimaginable.

Until now.

A Mercedes flew through the air and crashed through the common room window, causing Bucky to jump off the sofa and Pietro to flinch back.

Steve stared, wide-eyed at the car. "Did Banner 'Code Green'?" Steve asked.

"He's down in the lab, Tony is getting his suit." Pietro explained, running out to return with Steve's shield. No time to suit up, unfortunately. Bucky shrugged on a jacket and some guns, ready for action.

"Mutants, wonderful" Steve muttered, entering the elevator and praying to God no one threw another Mercedes at them. Prayers answered, maybe someone was looking out for them after all-

"Duck!" Tony screamed from above, smashing into the wall next to Steve as they exited the elevator. "Son of a bitch" he muttered.

"Language" Bucky mused, Steve sighing next to him.

"He controls metal" Tony said, dusting himself off and cracking his neck. "We can't get near him"

Steve looked at Bucky, shoving the shield at him and running out. Bucky looked at the shield, at the open lobby doors, back at the shield before slamming it into Tony's arms. "Punk" he spat, running out the double doors after him.

The moment Bucky stepped out he entered a completely different realm, one he was happy to be in.

He smirked, whipping out his rifle. "Wanda" he muttered into his earpiece. "Do we have visual?"

As if by magic, Pietro appeared dropping his sister off in front of him. "The one who controls metal has left" she said sadly, eyes darting around for more Mutants. "He only came to stare at Pietro and me."

Bucky raised a brow at her. What would the metal controller want with the twins?

"She's telling the truth. He left as soon as he saw them." Steve said, panting like he was in the middle of a fight. "I've got one of them, he's a tricky opponent" a shout.

Bucky walked out onto the road, sensing someone lurking. "Why?" Bucky asked, signing for Wanda to get back.

"He likes to use his tongue." Bucky turned, spotting Steve fighting with a small man waving his tongue around. Right. That wasn't disgusting at all.

He laughed, ignoring the niggling feeling at the back of his mind. "I'll be right-"

"Stop"

Bucky froze, cursing. He tried to move his legs but his body held still as if fighting against him. He glanced around his peripheral vision and spotted Pietro paused mid-step equally shocked.

"Who are you?" Wanda shouted, annoyed. Bucky tried to squirm, he had to see who, he had to fight back. A low laugh echoed across the field causing Steve and his opponent to stop and stare as footsteps neared him-

"Bucky!" Steve screamed.

"Hush"

Steve's mouth snapped shut, staring helplessly at his best friend. "Let them go" Bucky growled lowly, a light touch breezily drifting down his arm. A light tap on his metal arm and the figure of a girl stood in front of him.

He stifled a gasp. She was beautiful.

She gave him a sad smile, warm hands tracing his jawline. "Not you" she sighed, turning away from him to give him a view of her marvelous ass.

She walked and walked, like an animal stalking her prey, towards the speedster.

"Pietro!" Wanda shouted, mouth shut like Steve's in a matter of seconds. It took Bucky a second to realize she had spoken again, soft and melodious.

She did the same thing to Pietro, dragging her (F/C) colored nails down the skin of his arms gently before tracing the contours of his face.

Pietro took a deep breath, seemingly taken by her beauty. (E/C) eyes stare straight into silver-blue. "What is it you like to say?" She tapped a finger to her full pink lips. "You didn't see that coming?" She whispered in his ear, a tingling sensation shooting down Pietro's spine at her husky voice.

"(Y/N)"

Her head whipped to the side, (H/C) hair fanning around her as her face turned ashen. "Sir-"

"It's time to come home, dear" an older man with a helmet stepped in front of her, snapping his fingers.

The girl, (Y/N), went limp in an instant. Her beautiful face hitting the ground before Pietro could take a breath.

"No!" Pietro thrashed, finally free from the invisible force and dashing to her only to be stopped by a soft whimpering voice.

"Stop, please" the girl coughed, eyes pleading the older man even if the command was for Pietro. "Magneto"

The older man grinned wickedly, summoning the boy from earlier (the one fighting Steve) to lift her slight form into his arms and leave.

"It was a pleasure to meet you both Wanda" Magneto nodded, eyes raking over Pietro with interest. "Pietro"

He walked away, leaving the Avengers paralyzed. Tony stumbled out of the tower, staring at his frozen teammates.

"What the fuck happened to you guys?"

Steve groaned. "Shut up, Stark"


	2. Debt

“Pietro?”

The speedster barely caught the end of Captain America’s sentence, coming back to reality when his sister called out to him. He couldn’t help it, his mind was elsewhere. In another dimension where time stood still and a _girl_ made the world stop for a fraction of a second.

For years Pietro has put up with humanity’s sluggish pace and for one strange moment he experienced time slowing, he saw the world for what it was. A single word from your pretty pink lips was all it took and it terrified him. It _intrigued_ him.

“She is… interesting” Pietro muttered, ignoring their pointed looks. He didn’t need to look up to know that the Captain was disappointed in his lack of information. “She made me slow”

“You? Slow?” Tony raised a brow at this. “Not buying it, it’s like saying the Hulk is pink or something-”

“He’s telling the truth”

All eyes turned to Bucky and Pietro almost sighed audibly in relief. With the attention pointed to the Winter Soldier, Pietro could relax and think this entire situation over.

_Her hair smelled like flowers._

  _‘No’_ Pietro shook his head, pushing all affectionate nuances about you out of his thick skull. _‘She’s the enemy, Pietro’_ he tried to convince himself but your face flashed vivid in his mind all scrunched up in pain. The image of you crying out on your knees made him feel weak.

 _“Stop”_ you had said no, begged. You crawled to Magneto’s feet, begging for him to stop doing this to you. You begged him to stop making you do this to them. _“Please”_ your voice haunted him, barely a sentence but it weighed heavy on his conscience.

“She stopped us in our tracks” Bucky swallowed thickly, remembering how your fingernails dragged across his skin. Goosebumps dotted the flesh of the man’s right arm just thinking about how your breath blew warm across his face smelling like mint. “We couldn’t move at all” he nodded at Pietro, letting the Sokovian decide whether or not to reveal what he knew about the girl. Wanda’s hand rested reassuringly on top of his as he prepared himself to speak.

“Her name is (Y/N), she’s under Magneto’s control.” He gritted his teeth, his eyes had darted all over your prone form when you fell. His eyes had spotted it, a chip embedded just under her right ear. An electric shocker. “He snapped his fingers and shocked her.”

Pietro asked nicely for Jarvis to pull up a security video, trying to find an angle where he could see (Y/N)’s neck. He zoomed in once he found it, a small gasp coming from Banner who sat idly on the edge of the conference table like the distance would keep the rest of the team safe.

“Some sort of shocking device” Tony stroked his chin thoughtfully, giving Banner a look. “I’m not surprised, he’d need one to control this bundle of crazy” he said, gesturing to the paused picture of you.

“She can’t command him to do anything with that helmet on”

“Who said that?” Steve jumped up from his seat in time for the screen to go dark, the image of Charles Xavier staring back at them. “Professor, it’s been a while”

The kindly older man smiled back at them, they had met Charles a few times but they weren’t particularly close. They let the X-Men have their fun and the X-Men let them have theirs. A win-win situation, but it was different now. They had a common enemy and they would have to team up to even have a shot against Magneto.

“Do you know her, Professor?” Natasha asked from her seat next to Steve, opening another panel and showing Xavier an image of you. You were walking towards Pietro then, Bucky’s eyes on your lean form as you went. The super soldier held a straight face, fearing the possibility of a blush staining his face. For Christ’s sake, he’s the Winter Soldier. The Winter Soldier _did not blush_.

Charles sighed, looking tired and world-weary. “(Y/N) was a gentle child, she never meant any harm. She owes him a debt.” He said, looking pointedly at Natasha. The spy held a straight face but everyone knew better. The word debt changed everything, Natasha knew all about debts.

“A debt, you say?” Wanda muttered, gesturing for him to elaborate. Pietro didn’t even need to look in her direction to know that she had read his mind and seen his need to know.

“She was part of a mass genocide of mutants years ago, Magneto saved her. She and many others serve under him to repay him.” Charles explained.

“Doesn’t she see that he’s, you know, mental?” Clint chipped in, waving an arrow in the air for emphasis.

“I have no doubt that she does but-”

“She doesn’t have a choice doesn’t she?” Bucky said, the others looked at him worriedly afraid it would trigger him but he seemed calm. Understanding. “You said the helmet is the reason she can’t control him? She has no escape.”

The room was bathed in eerie silence, everyone taking the time to let the information sink before Tony stood up abruptly.

“Why are we still talking about this mental chick? We need to find bucket head over there.” Tony jested, fiddling with the controls no doubt scanning every video feed known to man for facial recognition.

Pietro sighed, done with this useless meeting. “I’m going for a run” he said mostly to his sister but Steve and Charles nodded in acknowledgement for the sake of politeness. And with that, Pietro dashed out, nothing but silvery strands trailing after him. Wanda stared until the wisps of silver disappeared, heaving a sigh. Maybe she could use some air too. It would definitely be a welcome change.

“Wanda” the brunette turned to look at Natasha, the spy had a plan. “Magneto, he knew about you and your brother. We’ll need to figure out how he knows you.”

Wanda nodded, still a little lost in thought. It was only logical to be asking these questions and it would be beneficial to the team if she complied. She walked away with Natasha, Steve and Bucky going in the opposite direction to train.

No time for walks in the park, Pietro could do that for both of them. For now, Wanda will have to try and answer Natasha’s questions.

 

* * *

 

 

“Damn it” you groaned, hands groping for purchase on the smooth cement walls. You pressed a fist against the cold stone, looking away from the thick glass separating you from the people studying you. If only this stupid headache would go away-

“God!” you scream, a volt of electricity crawling up your neck. You growl at the scientist, he had accidentally pressed the wrong button. You sigh, pressing yourself against the walls of your small cell. A couple more years with Magneto and you were free. You were doing good, protecting mutants.

You were fine.

“Oh, (Y/N)” you look over at Magneto, your mentor. He was blank faced, letting Mystique into the room. Mystique opened your cell door and gave you your bag. You make sure you look presentable before turning to Magneto. “It’s time”

You nod, letting yourself leave. You had more important things to do than think about the Avengers.

You think about the man with strange hair and a deep accent. Magneto had wanted him, wanted him badly even. You gripped your bag tightly in your fists and set out. Maybe if you found him you would be free.

Maybe, if you bring him to Magneto your debt would be paid.

A flash of silver and ocean blue eyes bore into yours, his image burned into the back of your eyelids. Somewhere, deep inside yourself, your conscience is screaming at you not to.

Your grip relaxed, your stride slowing down.

A couple more years, your mantra began repeating itself in your head again. You didn’t need to prove yourself to anyone. Just a couple more years.

And with that, you leave for your next mission.


	3. Strucker

Life goes on as normal as it possibly could for the Avengers. Find the Hydra survivors, take them down, and lock them up. Most of the time, they didn’t even need the whole team. Tony was in the lab more than the time that was healthy and no one could blame him. The attack from Magneto, and from his team called The Brotherhood, was hanging over their heads. The man could infiltrate the tower whenever he wanted.

 _And the girl can infiltrate us_ , Bucky thought. The idea of anyone having that amount of control over people was unnerving. And anyone with control over her could control anyone, which is why Magneto has to be stopped.

“She has to be stopped” Bucky said out of the blue, the Titanic playing on the television and the rest of the Avengers lounging on the couches. “She’s dangerous”

“She’s a kid” Steve shot back.

“A kid with a debt to the devil” Natasha piped up, nodding into her cup of coffee.

Bucky regarded the rest of the Avengers silently agreeing with Steve. “So, we’re leaving her out?”

“Not saying that” Steve replied, digging into the pint of _Capsicle_ which was basically Vanilla, Blueberry, and Strawberry mixed together. His face was plastered all over the cup and clearly it was Tony’s ridiculous idea to name a flavor after him but it was literally the only flavor in his refrigerator. “She’s tough to beat”

“But if she was as tough as we think, why does he want me and Pietro?” Wanda asked, finally the question of the hour. That very question had been plaguing them for weeks. Why did Magneto feel the need to see the twins? Why would he want them if he had her?

“She has a name, you know”

They all turned to watch Tony drop a folder full of papers, the sheets fell across the table fanning out. Natasha immediately reached for the top sheet. “(Y/N) (L/N). Born (Y/BD). Parents Diseased. Place of Birth, Sokovia.” She raised a brow at that, Wanda perked up from the corner of her eye.

“She doesn’t sound Sokovian.” Wanda tilted her head, not sure what to make of this information. “Surely, she would have an accent.”

“She migrated to the United States when she was four after a Hydra unit killed her family.” Tony said, tossing himself onto the couch next to Steve. “Am I the only one who read up on her?” he asked, putting his feet up on the coffee table.

“Has this Hydra unit been eliminated?” Pietro asked, appearing suddenly crouched down sifting through the papers. “If Magneto took her after Hydra killed her family and Magneto saved her-”

“Magneto must have fought against Hydra, which is why she owes him a debt.” Steve nodded, putting the ice cream pint down. “Which is why he knows the twins are with us.”

“But the question remains, why the twins?” Bruce pushed his glasses up, no one paying attention to the screen where Rose was thinking of jumping off the Titanic.

The television screen went blank, grainy images flashing across the surface. Wanda was the first to notice.

“Stark” she muttered, the billionaire stared up at the television quizzically.

“Jarvis?”

The AI didn’t answer, the sound of a low menacing chuckle filling the room. The pictures began to clear, the entire team now staring at the familiar face of Baron Von Strucker. “Baron”

“Captain” he nodded at Steve, surveying the other Avengers with interest. “Avengers”

His eyes shone bright as they landed on the twins, Wanda tucked behind Pietro and out of sight. “Twins”

“Do you need something?” Tony rolled his eyes, taking a bite of Steve’s ice cream. “An ass kicking perhaps?”

Strucker shook his head, laughing. “No need for drastic measures, Anthony.” He rolls his eyes dramatically before speaking again. “I see you have met my good friend, Erik”

“Erik-”

“Erik Lehnsherr, Magneto’s real name” Natasha cut Tony off, eyes still on Strucker.

“Correct, Black Widow. A very fine observation indeed.” Strucker chuckled, voice low and slow like he was trying to drag it out just to see them squirm. “We are not on very good terms him and I”

“I can’t imagine why” Clint quipped, hands twitching to his bow.

“And his pet, she’s quite a story isn’t she?” he grinned knowingly, he was obviously hiding something behind his beady eyes. “(Y/N). Would make a fine addition to our cause.”

“What do you want from her?” Bucky spoke up, surprising everyone. Even Strucker, who looked at him like he was a beaker exploding and foaming at the top. An unstable chemical reaction. His eyebrow raised itself at the thought, what would the Winter Soldier want with _you_?

“What else do madmen want?” Strucker nearly rolled his eyes, nearly. He was too professional for that. “Power” He waved the notion off, settling himself as he poured himself a glass of water in front of them. Show off-y prick. “But she is not what I’m after… yet”

“Oh my _God_ , what the fuck do you even want?” Clint groaned, growing increasingly annoyed with his act of toying with them. They didn’t have the time to waste on Strucker. They had to find Magneto before he struck them where it hurt.

Strucker smirked, as if even that was part of his master plan and it was coming together nicely. “Just checking if you lot are on the right track.” He snickered to himself, fingers poised to shut off the camera.

“I know _she_ is”

Bucky stiffened where he sat, fingers clutching at the armrest of the sofa almost tearing it apart. What did Strucker even mean?

A gush of wind blew Bucky’s hair back and Pietro was gone, Wanda reaching out to her brother but it was for naught. “Pietro?” she still muttered into the empty air and Vision came forward to console her, keep her from worrying too much.

Pietro was a big boy, Bucky shrugged. He can take care of himself. His metal fingers flipped through the multitude of files on the table, her history. It wasn’t long, most of it was a profile on her skills, aptitude tests. No doubt Pietro had already gone through them because there were sentences clearly highlighted in blue.

Bucky sighed, picking up a pale red highlighter, the Sokovian might have gone and done it first but he’d find her first. He had to.

The image of her walking away from him, her touch dancing across his skin, and the pained look on her face were all imprinted in the back of his eyelids. He had to find her, had to know if she felt the same chill up her spine.

“Come on, Barnes”

He _had_ to.

 

* * *

 

 

Before Pietro knew it, he’d run back to where he’d searched that morning. It was a school, a university tucked away in a corner of Manhattan. It was unassuming and completely normal by university standards but he knew he had seen it.

After looking around, consulting thugs and brutes and small time villains on the street he’d found a guy – some gambler with some party trick of a mutation – who had said Magneto was spotted near the place with another student.

He snuck into the hallway, sprinting through and peering through rooms. Nothing again, maybe she didn’t have classes on Tuesdays either? He shook his head.

He was about to give up when he heard a familiar voice humming quietly to herself, he let himself be led to a small fountain inside the heart of the school. And there she sat, hands smoothing down a Psychology textbook with one brow raised at him. “So you’ve found me” she smiled, leaving Pietro blinking in surprise.

“Is this a trap?” he asked, not sure what to say. This was… easier than he expected.

She laughed, honest and completely relaxed for the first time since he’d met her. “No, not a trap. I’m not working today. Mag-Erik, he lets me study on the days I don’t have a mission to do. We don’t have any big plans for you guys right now.”

Pietro smiled, surprised at how nice and easy-going she was considering she’d aided in attacking them. “How do I know you are not lying, _krasivaya_?” he winked at her.

She raised a brow at him, amused. “You don’t”

Pietro laughed, enjoying their conversation probably more than he should have. “Pietro” he held out his hand for her to shake and she stared at it, guffawing at the fact that he just let her touch his hand.

But the look on his face was so earnest and curious she couldn’t just take his hand and take him to Magneto. There was always time, she thought. Time for everything, but for now she could use a friend. God knows she has so few of those.

“Y/N” you shook his hand and let go afterwards, not looking to try anything.

Pietro smirked, ecstatic that she seemed to genuinely want to chat with him, and sat down next to her. “A beautiful name for a beautiful girl”

“Corny” she shook her head. “Are you always like this?”

He nodded, shoving her sideways with his shoulder. “You better get used to it, _Printessa_.” He drawled in slow and low Sokovian sending shivers up her spine. She grinned, all straight and perfect teeth.

“I’m looking forward to it, Speedy”


	4. Tatiana

"Shoot" you cursed, checking the time on your cellphone. You only had five minutes before your first class and there was absolutely no way you could get there on time now.

"Stupid Hydra" you hissed, you were cranky and exhausted and late for class. If only Strucker hadn't been such a pain in the ass to find you would have been home sleeping early instead of out all week running across Europe to try and track him down. In the end it was a wild goose chase, but Magneto let you off which - no doubt - pissed off Mystique. As if she didn't already hate you enough.

You'd have gotten up early if it wasn't for the mission. You'd have made it with five minutes to spare instead of leaving with only five minutes to catch a cab to your university.

 _'I'd have been able to spend time with Pietro'_ you thought, frowning at how quickly the speedster came into mind. You shook your head. _'He's the enemy'_ you chant to yourself.

"I should never even have gotten attached in the first place" you groan into the stack of books in your arms when you felt the telltale breeze of his arrival.

"Printsessa" he greeted suavely in that Sokovian accent that made your knees weak taking your bag from you.

"Blovan" you returned, smirking. Pietro frowned and you had to force yourself to ignore the twinge in your chest, had to force yourself not to apologize.

"Why do you do that?" He asked, hair falling into his face as he walked with you.

"Do what?" You answer casually, brushing a strand of your own hair aside.

He stands in front of you, walking backwards. "Push me away"

You rolled your eyes at him like the answer was obvious and he's naive (he is). "We're enemies"

Pietro chuckled, your eyes rove over his face to take note of every single dimple he has without noticing.

"We don't have to be" he says, taking your hand in his. You flinch, (E/C) eyes meeting electric blue. You realize he isn't the slightest bit afraid of what you could do to him, of what you can make him do to himself. "You could be an Avenger"

"I-" for a moment you consider it before remembering. "-need to get to class" you watch the hope in Pietro's eyes dim, he clings to the very last strands like he'll break down if he doesn't and you fight the urge to roll your eyes again. He really is naive. He must be if he thinks you can escape Magneto.

"Okay" he says, scooping you up into his arms and before you can register what was about to happen he's putting you down gently on a bench outside of your Psychology 101 classroom.

"Think about it" he whispers into your ear. You can't hold back the shiver that follows, you can only hope he hadn't noticed.

"I'll see you later, Pietro" you said without conviction and he smiled at you like he knows you would accept his offer if you could. Like you were good inside.

You wish you were, if only for those few moments, just so he can take you away.

"Later, Printsessa" he nods, gone in a silver blue blur.

 

You stare out into the hallway, smiling softly to yourself when another person’s presence invaded your personal space.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, _Siren_.” Your jaw tightened, your Professor sauntering out of the empty classroom but you knew better. Your real Psychology Professor would never let your class go without a lecture.

“Mystique” you nod, careful to keep your face neutral. “Are you here to see me off again?” you ask, daintily pulling the file folder from her hands. Another mission back to Europe, wonderful. “Another Hydra cell?”

“Don’t think I’m letting  you get away with-”

 ** _Ping!_** You fish your cellphone out of your pocket and bite back a smile.

> **Pietro “Quickshitter” Maximoff**   
>  _Printsessa_

“(Y/N)” Mystique started, tone low in warning, but you’d already shut your phone off. “He’s the target” she added, as if she didn’t already know.

“I know” you answer proudly, you know that even if you’d been hooked up to a lie detector she’d never know you were lying. Your heart didn’t stutter one bit. “I’m working on it”

Mystique looked her up and down for signs of guilt before letting her go. “What’s stopping me from telling him?” she asked, clearly not about to let this go. But you stand completely still, unfazed by the sharpness of her gaze.

“You won’t” you turn to look her in the eye. “You love him” you whisper just loud enough for her to hear and widen her now amber eyes in shock at your audacity. “And he loves me.”

“Get out of my sight, Siren.” She hissed some more, walking away and shape-shifting into the school janitor, Harley. You wait ten seconds until she’s out of sight before sighing in relief. You scan through the papers she had dropped off for a moment. Strucker had been in contact recently with an arms dealer named Ivan Kvyat.

 _‘Kvyat, huh? Wealthy family._ ’ You snapped the file shut, finger hovering over your phone screen.

> _From:_ **YOU**
> 
> _To:_ **Pietro “Quickshitter” Maximoff**
> 
> Ivan Kvyat. _From Russia With Love_.

You delete the message as soon as it’s sent and speed walk to the airport to board flight 2279 en route to Moscow in precisely 30 minutes. You sigh, your breath fogging up the air. The chill of the winter was upon you and the snow would fall soon so you grab a coat from a nearby store on the way there.

As you eat your bagel waiting to fly above the skies of Manhattan and over the sea towards your mission, you hope you hadn’t just wasted your effort in betraying Magneto just for the Avengers to mess it up.

You shrug, you trust Pietro.

And wasn’t _that_ a scary thought?

 

* * *

 

 

Stark and Rogers are at it again when Pietro receives the text. Another normal day at Avengers Tower.

“Well, we need to do something! Can’t you find out where all these videos are coming from? You’re the genius here.” Steve groaned, sinking into his seat with Bucky patting his back and Sam nudging his shoulder. Team Captain America was going strong.

Unfortunately, Team Ironman wasn’t giving in. Predictably.

“Hate to tell you, Cap, but even when we trace him he’s always gone before we even reach the place. We don’t even know what he’s planning, how do we know it’s got anything to do with us?” Tony crossed his arms.

“He admitted he wanted the twins!”

“ _Magneto_ wants the twins. Strucker wanted **_Siren_**. Or are you so old that your memory is getting spotty?”

“They’re right there.” Natasha rolled her eyes, gesturing to the Maximoffs looking uncomfortable and fidgety in their seats. Everyone seemed to want them these days. “Cool off, you two-”

 ** _“Pick up, it’s me. Pick upppp-”_** your voice reverberated against the walls of the boardroom silencing the team of superheroes.

Pietro snatched his cellphone off the boardroom table and opened it sheepishly ignoring the looks of surprise leveled at him by every single Avenger besides Wanda. “Text Message” he laughed, reading your text.

“Is that-” Bucky piped up, eyes wide. “Is that her? How the hell do you-”

“Language”

“-have her number? Oh fuck off, you punk.” He scoffed, shoving Steve sideways playfully. “I’m serious”

Pietro shrugged, a mysterious look in his eyes.

“Frosty has a point, you better spill the-” Tony grinned at him but before he could make another quip Pietro was dropping his cellphone in the Billionaire’s hands. He didn’t mind, Stark had given him the cellphone anyway and he didn’t have anything interesting in it besides a few necessary apps. And (Y/N) never texted back until now.

Tony Stark giggled, honest to God giggled at the text.

“Jarvis, bring up Ivan Kvyat.” The AI responded, all information on Ivan Kvyat dumped itself onto the glass table. Steve immediately reached out for the files Hydra left in the old Shield systems when Pietro’s phone started chirping again.

Tony hit the answer button with a grin. “If it isn’t Tatiana.” He winked even if you couldn’t really see him. “Hang on, sweetheart. I’ll put you on conference-” he tapped the Phone against the glass surface of the table and a video feed of you sitting in the airport appeared in front of them. You pointed your cellphone’s inside camera at yourself, regarding the Avengers coolly from your screen.

“Is this call secure?” you ask, raising a brow at Stark.

“It is now.” Tony replied smugly.

Pietro grinned at you, your eyes meeting instantly. “Printsessa”

“Bolvak” you answer reflexively.

 

“From Russia with love?” Tony snickered, breaking the contact. “Is this your weird Sokovian way of saying you’re defecting?”

“You’re hardly James Bond material, Stark” you laughed despite yourself. “I’m giving information. And I’m Sokovian, not Russian”

“To-may-to, to-mah-to” he shrugged.

“I don’t understand” Wanda raised her hand, not understanding the reference.

“It’s a James Bond movie-” Natasha had started.

“Tatiana Romanova is a Soviet consultant clerk who defected to help James Bonde beat SPECTRE.” Steve finished excitedly, blushing when he realized he’d answered a little too enthusiastically. “I got that reference, Bucky rented it last week.”

“How can we trust you?” Bucky piped up, tilting his head to her eyeing her with distrust. “What makes you think we can after your little show?”

You roll your eyes. “You don’t have to trust me.”

“Why are you even giving us this information?” he pushed, all eyes turned to you questioningly and you swallow a lump in your throat before answering to buy you time.

You bite your lip, eyes flashing to meet Pietro’s for comfort. “I’m here for him” you admit, crossing your arms. Their attention diverts from you to Pietro giving you time to collect your thoughts. “I’m not a good guy and I might never be. And clearly I can’t be an Avenger.” You smile apologetically at him. “But I want to help him.”

The silence screamed at you.

“Strucker contacted Ivan a couple of hours ago, I need to move fast if I want to catch him.” You stood up to board your plane. “Magneto has plans for you. Stay there, stay together. I’ll get Strucker-”

“I’m going with you.” Pietro stood up abruptly, already standing by the door to leave.

“Stay together!” you almost shout, rubbing a hand down your face in frustration.

“Sorry, we don’t take orders from you. We’ll see you there.” Bucky nodded, shifting to join the Sokovian by the door.

“Oh my God” you groan. “I’ll be back with Strucker but I can’t hand him to you if Magneto takes you down.” You explained feeling like you were in a nursery school and you were the only adult.

“She’s right” Steve agreed, surprising everyone. “We stay here, it’s too risky.”

“But Steve-”

“(Y/N)” Steve stood up and nodded respectfully, expression pinched with worry. “Thank you, stay safe.”

Your eyes grew wide. Captain America was worried about _you_ , his enemy. “No problem.”

“And you’re wrong, you’re always welcome to be a part of our family.” He smiled and you had to struggle to keep a straight face because damn if you don’t want to take him up on that offer. Your hand crawls up your neck to touch Magneto’s chip.

“Thanks” you smile, and you know – you _know_ – this is going to end in tears but you say it anyway. “Good luck, Avengers”


End file.
